Technical Tours

3 technical tours will be organized in the afternoon of 23 April 2010: 1 group to the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System at Changi and 2 groups to the Marina Barrage (2.15pm Group and 4.00pm Group).

Each delegate will have time for 1 tour only.

You can register for the technical tour with the Secretariat during the conference. Registration for all tours will close at 12 noon, 22 April 2010.

Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS)

For safety reasons all participants are advised to wear covered shoes for site tour.

The mammoth DTSS (Phase I & II) project consists of two large, deep tunnels crisscrossing the island, two centralised Water Reclamation Plants, deep sea outfall pipes, and a link sewer network. Completed in 2008, Phase I of the DTSS comprises a 48km long deep tunnel sewer running   from Kranji to Changi, a centralised water reclamation plant at Changi, two 5km long deep sea outfall pipes, and 60km link sewers. Used water from   homes and industries, in the northern and eastern part of Singapore, is conveyed through the deep tunnel sewer to a centralised water reclamation   plant for treatment to international standards. It is then discharged through two deep sea outfall pipes or sent to the Newater Factory for further purification into NEWater.

Marina Barrage (2 Groups)

The Marina Barrage is a dam built across the 350-metre wide Marina Channel to keep out seawater, forming Singapore’s first reservoir in the city and 15th reservoir. Marina Reservoir combines with the future Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs will increase Singapore’s water catchment areas from half to two-thirds of Singapore’s land areas.

With the barrage in place, the Marina Basin will turn into a body of freshwater through natural flushing in one to two years. The freshwater will then be treated using advanced membrane technology before consumption.

The Marina Barrage is part of a comprehensive flood control scheme to alleviate flooding in the low-lying areas in the city such as Chinatown, Boat Quay, Jalan Besar and Geylang. During heavy rain, the series of nine crest gates at the dam will be activated to release excess storm water into the sea when the tide is low. In the case of high tide, giant pumps which are capable of pumping an Olympics-size swimming pool per minute will drain excess storm water into the sea.